Project Tags

Related Projects

Top Surnames

Profiles

William Le Roy Newell (born October 23, 1884) was a machinist and inspector for the Chevrolet-General Motors North Tarryotwn Assembly automobile factory in what is now Sleepy Hollow , New York .
Sour...

John A. Newell (1845 – 1918) was an English-American shoemaker from North Tarrytown , now Sleepy Hollow, New York .
Newell was born in Holborn, London, England to Frances (née Jarman) and John Newell...

Early history

During the 1680s, Dutchman Frederick Philipse, gaining influence with early English governors of New York, purchased large tracts of land from tribes along the east side of the Hudson including virtually all of present-day Sleepy Hollow. The Philipse family owned the land until the end of the American Revolutionary War when they were branded as traitors for allegiance to the British crown and fled to England. With the passing of the Confiscation Act on October 22nd, 1779 the land was declared forfeit and made the property of the State of New York.

750 acres of the Philipse estate were purchased from the New York Commissioners of Forfeiture at public auction in 1785 by Gerard G. Beekman, where he lived with his wife, Cornelia Van Cortlandt, until his death in 1822. Cornelia had the land surveyed in 1835 and sold off lots to form the heart of a new community named Beekmantown, now Sleepy Hollow.

Irving Institute

The land on which 29 Kendall lies was sold to William P. Lyon and his brother Charles, where they established the Irving Institute in 1837. The institute, later known as the Irving School, was the oldest private school in Westchester County. Washington Irving was a patron and the head of the school's board of examiners. Other well-known Americans, such as Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State William Cullen Bryant and Dr. William A. Duer, the president of Columbia University, served on the school's board of directors. The school developed a reputation as an English classical boarding school, and the sons of the wealthy from all over the nation arrived in Tarrytown by stagecoach and steamboat to attend.

The school was relocated to a new building in the early 1850s and the orginal building was converted to a hotel which was named the Irving House. The west end of the property was divided into lots in 1854 and sold at auction.

Bogardus family

The land to become 29 Kendall was purchased sometime around 1862 by Edwin R. Bogardus, a wealthy lawyer from Fishkill, New York. He was enlisted into the Civil War on July 1, 1863. His wife, Caroline V. Bogardus, died the following month on August 26, 1863 at the age of 37. Edwin died five years later on September 17, 1868 at the age of 43.

Mallory Battery Company

60 Elm Street was the site of the Mallory Battery Company (now Duracell) factory. As a result of the production of mercuric oxide batteries between 1945 and 1974, the soil surrounding the factory was contaminated with high levels of lead and mercury. The hazardous by-products were spread from large exhaust fans, mainly to properties located to the south and east, including 29 Kendall.

The plant was bought by Gillette, which closed the facility in 1984 citing the high cost of taxes, fuel and upkeep. A cleanup of the site and eight adjacent properties took place between 1988 and 1993 and was declared satisfactory by the NYS DEC the following year. In 2003, the village of Sleepy Hollow purchased the site from Gillette and converted it to a village-maintained parking lot.

In 2009 however, the NYS DEC established new guidelines on the allowable levels of lead and mercury in soils. Efforts to meet these new standards are currently being made by Gillette and the village of Sleepy Hollow.

New York Daily Times; Name: Wm P Lyon; Date: June 7, 1854; Text: Four eligible building sites, each 50x131 and 155 feet, on the corner of Beekman-ac and Pocantico st, opposite the Irving House. Good srand for a stor and business.

New York Herald; Name: E.R. Bogardus; Date: 24 Aug 1869; Text: The property of the late E.R. Bogardus, comprising three acres of valuable land situated on Beekman avenue, Tarrytown, has been purchased by a Mr. Hanburo, of Chicago, for $18,000.